Smoke-consuming and fuel-economizing furnace.



No. 643,563. Patented Feb. l3, I900.

} w. TETER.

SMOKE GONSUIMNG AND FUEL ECUNDMIZING FURNACE.

' (Application filed Jan. 19. 1899.

- (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet I.

mneddedx jwenzah' UNITED STATES PATENT GFFICE.

\VILLIAM L. TETER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

SMOKE-CONSUMING AND FUEL-ECONOMIZING FURNACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 643,563, dated February 13, 1900. Application filed January 19, 1899. Serial No. 702,627. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM L. TETER, of the city and county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented an Improvement in Smoke-Consuming and Fuel-Economizing Furnaces, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relatesto smoke-consuming and fuel-economizing furnaces; and it consists of certain improvements which are fully set forth in the following specification and are shown in the accompanying drawings.

More particularly my invention relates to that class of furnaces in which the combustion of ordinary fuel, such as coal, is more perfectly and completely effected with a resulting increase in intensity of heat and economy of fuel by the use of a quantity of gaseous or vaporized fuel for the purpose of consuming the smoke and other unconsumed products .of combustion. In such furnaces much difficulty has been experienced in providing smoke-consuming devices for supplying this gaseous orvaporized fuel which shall be capable of withstanding the intense heat to which they are subjected without rapid deterioration and injury.

It is one of the objects of my invention to provide such a furnace with smoke-consuming devices which shall be effective for the purpose of supplying the gaseous or vapoq'ized fuel, but shall be suitably protected against injury by the intense heat to which they are subjected. To this end I employ a smoke-consumer consisting of a pipe located above the grate, preferably within the side walls of the furnace and extending along the sides of the grate, and provided with a series of burners projecting through theside walls into the combustion chamber. To protect these burners from injury, they may be provided with protecting-caps of fire-clay or other non-combustible material. The fuel which is supplied to this smoke-consumer (usually more or less vaporized oil and steam) passes first through a retort also located above the grate and is more or less converted into volatile gases before reaching the smoke -consumer. For aiding the conversion of the oil and steam into volatile gases I employ an aspirator for introducing air into the mixture of vaporized oil and steam before it enters the retort.

Another part of my invention relates to the construction of the furnace,whereby the combustion-chamber is divided longitudinally into compartments.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a smoke'comsuming and fuel-economizing furnace embodying my invention with part of the outer wall broken away. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of the same. Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical sectional view of the line w as of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the smoke-consuming pipes and gas-burners and Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional View, enlarged, of one of the burners of the smoke consumer.

A is a steam-boiler.

B B are the outer walls of the furnace.

O is the grate, and D is the bridge-wall.

E is a vertical partition of fire brick or clay located intermediate of the side Walls of the furnace and extendinglongitudinally between the grate and the boiler from the front to the bridge-wall. This partition divides the combustion chamber into compartments, which may be provided with separate doors, so that the opening of one compartment Will not expose the other and each may be independently charged. A lining e, of asbestos or other heat-resisting material, may be placed between the upper edge of the partition E and the surface of the boiler to protect the boiler and allow for expansion and contraction, owing to the yielding character of the asbestos lining,without injury to the wall E.

F is a gas-burner located immediately below the grate and extending to a'substantial extent under the surface thereof. It preferably consists of a series of perforated pipes f, extending longitudinally under the gratebars and connected with a gas-supply pipe G.

H is a pipe extending about the furnace above the grate and preferably set in the side and bridge walls. It is provided with a series of burners h, projecting inward above the grate, througnwhich combustible gases and Vapors may pass into the combustion chamber or chambers above the grate. This pipe H and its burners constitute a smokeconsumer, acting to consume the smoke and unburned products of combustion of the fuel. For the purpose of protecting burners h from injury by the extreme heat to which they are subjected they are protected by caps I, of fire-clay. These preferably consist of cylindrical pieces having a conical interior placed over the burners,with an intermediate packing 2', of fire-clay or other non-combustible material. These caps I are preferably so constructed and arranged as to project beyond the ends of the burners H, terminating in contracted orifices j, so as to effectively protect the outlets of the burners from direct contact with the products of combustion, which is liable to result in injury and the closure of the burners.

The pipe G, which supplies the burner F, communicates with smoke-consumer, so that a portion of the gases and vapors escapes from the burners of the smoke-consu mer above the grate and a portion passes through the pipe G to the burner F below the grate and passes up into the body of incandescent fuel therein.

J is a pipe extending about the furnace above the grate (preferably set in the side and bridge wall) and communicating with the pipe II of the smoke-consumer. Steam and vaporized oil are supplied to this pipe J, which acts as a retort to heat the steam and vaporized oil and more or less convert them into volatile gases before theyare supplied to the smoke-consumer and gasburner.

The pipes II and J, either or both, may be exposed to the direct action of the heat of the products of combustion in the furnace by providing openings in the walls in which they are located, as shown in the drawings. By providing these openings in the walls the pipes H and J, while to a certain extent protected, are directly subjected to the intense heat of the combustion-chamber, and the conversion of the oil and steam into volatile gases is more perfectly effected.

The steam and vaporized oil may be supplied to the retort J in any convenient manner. The apparatus I have shown for this purpose is as follows:

K is a pipe communicating with the retort J, by which rarefied oil and steam are supplied to the retort by means of an ejector R. Oil is supplied to the ejector through a. pipe Q from a tank M, communicating by a pipe N with a force-pump O, by which a quantity of oil may be pumped from a reservoir into the tank, and by a pipe Q with a water-supply, by which water under pressure may be supplied to the tank. The oil in the tank M floats on the top of the water therein and is forced by hydrostatic pressure into the pipe Q, whence it is drawn by the ejector R and becomes divided and falls in drops, being therefore in condition to be more readily atomized or finely divided by the action of the ejector.

Steam is supplied to the ejector through a pipe 0*, leading from a supply-pipe 9', communicating with the boiler or other source of steam-supply.

R is a steam-chamber interposed between the pipes r and 0', through which the steam passes and by which the water of condensation is drawn off. The steam entering the ejector is mixed with the finely-divided oil and the two mixed together pass in a vaporized condition into the retort J, where they are more or less converted into volatile gases, of which part escape through the smoke-consumer J above the grate and part pass to the burner F and are consumed in the body of in candescentfuel thereon. These devices for supplying the oil and steam to the retort form no part of my present invention, and other devices suitable for the purpose may be employed, if desired.

To assist in the vaporization of the oil and its conversion with the steam into volatile gases, it is sometimes desirable that a quantity of air should be mixed with them before they enter the retort. For this purpose I pro vide the pipe K with an aspirator L, by which a quantity of air may be admitted when desired.

The details of construction which have been shown may be varied without departing from my invention.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. In a smoke-consuming and fuel-economizing furnace, the combination of the grate, the bridgewall located at the rear of the grate,a retort extending along the bridge-wall and along the side walls of the furnace above the grate, means to supply steam and oil to said retort, a smoke-consumer communicating with said retort to receive the steam and oil therefrom in a more or less gaseous condition, extending along the side walls of the furnace above the grate and provided with openings for the escape of said gaseous fuel, and a series of burners located below the grate and communicating with said fuel-consumer, whereby the oil and steam supplied to said retort are converted into a more or less gaseous fuel therein, and a part of said gaseous fuel is introduced into the furnace from the sides above the grate and a part is introduced in the body of incandescent fuel from below the grate.

2. In a smoke-consuming and fuel-economizing furnace, the combination of the grate, the bridge-wall located at the rear of the grate, a retort extending along the bridge-wall and along the side walls of the furnace above the grate, means to supply steam and oil to said retort, a smoke-consumer communicating with said retort to receive the steam and oil therefrom in a more or less gaseous condition, extending along and within the side walls of the furnace above the grate and provided with nozzles for the escape of said gaseous fuel projecting through openings in the side walls, protecting-caps of refractory material arranged over the projecting ends of said nozzles, and a series of burners located below the grate and communicating with said fuel-consumer, whereby the oil and steam supplied to said retort are converted into a more or less gaseous fuel therein, and a part of said gaseous fuel is introduced into the furnace from the sides above'the grate and a part is introduced in the body of incandescent fuel from below the grate.

3. In a smoke-consuming and fuel-economizing furnace, the combination of the grate,

the bridge-wall located at the rear of the grate,

a retort extending along the bridge-wall and along the side walls of the furnace above the grate, means to supply steam and oil to said retort, a smoke-oonsumer communicating with said retort to receive the steam and oil therefrom in a more or less gaseous condition, extending along the side walls of the furnace above the grate and provided with openings for the escape of said gaseous fuel, aseries of burners located below the grate and communicating with said fuel consumer, whereby the oil and steam supplied to said retort are converted into a more or less gaseous fuel therein, and a part of said gaseous fuel is introduced into the furnace from the sides above the grate and a part is introduced in the body of incandescent fuel from below the grate, and a dividing-partition E extending longitudinally within the furnace from the front to the bridge-wall.

4. In a smoke-consuming and fuel-economizing furnace, the combination of the grate, the bridge-wall located at the rear of the grate, a retort extending along the bridge-wall and along the side walls of the furnace above the grate, means to supply steam and oil to said retort, a smoke consumer communicating with said retort to receive thesteam and oil therefromin a more or less gaseous condition, extending along the side walls of the furnace above the grate and provided with openings for the escape of said gaseous fuel, a series of burners located below the grate and communicating with said smoke-consumer, whereby the oil and steam supplied to said retort are converted into a more or less gaseous fuel therein, and a part of said gaseous fuel is introd uoed into the furnace from the sides above the grate and a part is introduced in the body of incandescent fuel from below the grate, a dividing-partition E extending 1ongitudinally within the furnace from the front to the bridge-wall, and a lining of refractory and yielding material, such as asbestos, between the upper edge of said partition and the boiler.

In testimony of which invention 1 have hereunto set my hand.

WILLIAM L. TETER.

Witnesses:

ERNEST HOWARD HUNTER, R. M. KELLY. 

